After departing the verdant city of Portland last evening, we awoke this morning to the muted tans and gray-greens of the sagebrush steppe. With more than 70 inches difference in annual precipitation, the landscape is decidedly different on the eastern and western slopes of the Cascades. Entering the navigational lock at John Day Dam at 6:45am, the sun was already bright and warm; promising a glorious day on the river. We cruised upstream all morning, with the surrounding landscape alternating between basalt canyon walls and cultivated rolling hills. We explored on shore during the afternoon, and returned to the Sea Lion via Zodiac. Floating midstream with the outboard engine turned off, those in the last Zodiac home were treated to a sweet harmonica serenade of "river songs". As the "Captains" or the "Cayuse Sisters" watched, the Sea Lion weighed anchor and continued upriver.